Adam's sin caused the loss of man's original gift and the destruction of the entire human race, 4-7). Adam was denied the tree of the knowledge of good and evil to test his obedience and to prove that he was willingly under God's command.
THE NATURE OF ORIGINAL SIN
This does not refute the fact that the universal curse of the human race preceded it. So those who have defined original sin as “the lack of the original righteousness which should dwell in us,” although they understand in this definition the whole meaning of the term, still have not expressed its power and energy effectively enough.
SIN OVERTURNS THE WHOLE MAN
From this it follows that that part in which especially the excellence and nobility of the soul shines, is not only wounded, but is so depraved that it must be healed and also put on a new nature. As Paul says, all turnings of the mind after the flesh are enmity against God [.
SIN IS NOT OUR NATURE, BUT ITS DERANGEMENT Now away with those persons who dare write God’s name upon their
For in his discussion of the depraved nature, Paul not only condemns the excessive impulses of the appetites which we see, but especially asserts that the mind is given over to blindness and the heart to corruption. For the Spirit, opposed to the old man and the flesh, signifies not only the grace by which the lower or sensuous part of the soul is reformed, but embraces the complete renewal of all parts.
MAN HAS NOW BEEN DEPRIVED OF FREEDOM OF CHOICE AND BOUND OVER
TO MISERABLE SERVITUDE
We have now seen that the dominion of sin, from the time it held the first man bound to itself, not only ranges among all mankind, but also
MAN IS NOW DEPRIVED OF FREEDOM OF CHOICE AND BOUND. nothing of it should be taken away from the man, it should be clearly evident how important it is that he should be restrained from false boasting. At that time, I say, when he was raised to the highest degree of honor, Scripture ascribed nothing to him but that he was made in the image of God [ Genesis 1:27], thus suggesting that man was blessed, not because of his good works, but from participation in God.
THE PHILOSOPHERS TRUST IN THE POWER OF THE UNDERSTANDING
THUS, IN SPITE OF ALL, THE PHILOSOPHERS ASSERT FREEDOM OF THE WILL
They say: Whether we do this or that depends on our choice, as well as not doing it. Now we seem to do what we do and avoid what we avoid, by free choice.
THE CHURCH FATHERS GENERALLY SHOW LESS CLARITY BUT A TENDENCY TO ACCEPT FREEDOM OF THE WILL
First, a frank admission of man's powerlessness over them would have mocked the philosophers with whom they were in conflict. Origen seems to have put forward a definition generally agreed upon by ecclesiastical writers when he said that it is a faculty of reason to distinguish between good and evil, a faculty of the will to choose one or the other .
DIFFERENT KINDS OF “WILL” AND OF “FREEDOM” IN THE CHURCH FATHERS
They thought that we cooperate with God's helping grace because it is our right to give it. However, we at least understand from this division in what way they give man free will.
THAT MAN IS NECESSARILY, BUT WITHOUT COMPULSION, A SINNER ESTABLISHES NO DOCTRINE OF FREE WILL
AUGUSTINE’S DOCTRINE OF “FREE WILL”
Again, free will has been so enslaved that it can have no power for justice. And they ignore the fact that the term "free will" seems to imply freedom.
VOICES OF TRUTH AMONG THE CHURCH FATHERS Perhaps I may seem to have brought a great prejudice upon myself when I
THE DOCTRINE OF FREE WILL IS ALWAYS IN DANGER OF ROBBING GOD OF HIS HONOR
And we must not pass over other sayings like this, like this one from Isaiah: "The sun will no longer be your light by day, and the moon will no longer give you shine by night; but the Lord will be your eternal light”. The Lord does not take the shine of the sun or moon away from his servants; but because He alone wishes to appear in their glorious kingdom, He calls them far away from confidence, even in the things which they consider most excellent.
TRUE HUMILITY GIVES GOD ALONE THE HONOR A saying of Chrysostom’s has always pleased me very much, that the
These prove that no one is allowed to receive the blessings of God unless he is consumed by the consciousness of his poverty. TRUE HUMILITY ONLY GIVES HONOR TO GOD Chrysostom's saying has always pleased me very much, that. fight against God in regard to our right, as if what is due to him were taken away from our well-being.
SUPERNATURAL GIFTS DESTROYED; NATURAL GIFTS CORRUPTED; BUT ENOUGH OF REASON REMAINS TO
In the same way, the will did not perish because it is inseparable from human nature, but was so bound to evil desires that it cannot strive for the right. Therefore, that the order of discussion may proceed in accordance with our original division of the soul of man into understanding and will, f78 therefore let us first of all examine the power of understanding.
THE POWER OF THE UNDERSTANDING WITH RESPECT TO EARTHLY THINGS AND THE FORM OF THE
For while men dispute among themselves about individual clauses of the law, they agree about the general conception of justice. In this respect the frailty of the human mind is surely proved: even when it seems to follow the way, it limps and falters.
UNDERSTANDING AS REGARDS ART AND SCIENCE Then follow the arts, both liberal and manual. The power of human
Such persons do not hate laws because they do not know that they are good and holy; but raging with lust they fight against clear reason. Now the discovery or systematic transmission of the arts, or the inward and superior knowledge of them, which is characteristic of few, is not a sufficient proof of general discernment.
SCIENCE AS GOD’S GIFT
HUMAN COMPETENCE IN ART AND SCIENCE ALSO DERIVES FROM THE SPIRIT OF GOD
SUMMARY OF 12-16
HUMAN COMPETENCE IN ARTS AND SCIENCE ALSO COMES FROM THE SPIRIT OF GOD. that defect does not darken the common grace of God. f87 Instead, we are warned by that spectacle that we must attribute what remains within us to God's goodness. Is it not to display in ordinary nature the special grace of God, who, passing by many, declares himself bound to none.
THE LIMITS OF OUR UNDERSTANDING We must now analyze what human reason can discern with regard to
MAN’S SPIRITUAL BLINDNESS SHOWN FROM <431004>
This means: The flesh is not capable of such sublime wisdom as to comprehend God and what is of God unless it is enlightened by the Spirit of God. MAN'S KNOWLEDGE OF GOD IS GOD'S OWN WORKIf we were convinced that our nature lacks all that is our heavenly.
MAN’S KNOWLEDGE OF GOD IS GOD’S OWN WORK If we were convinced that our nature lacks everything that our Heavenly
As Christ testified, the fact that Peter recognized him was a special revelation of the Father [Matthew 16:17]. Because these mysteries are deeply hidden from human insight, they are revealed only by the revelation of the Spirit.
WITHOUT THE LIGHT OF THE SPIRIT, ALL IS DARKNESS Accordingly, what Paul here denies to men, elsewhere, in prayer, he
If we confess that we lack what we ask of God, and he by promising it proves our lack of it, no one should now hesitate to confess that he is able to understand the mysteries of God only in so far as he is enlightened by the grace of to God EVIDENCE OF GOD'S WILL THAT LOWER MAN MAKES HIM INCREDIBLE BUT DOESN'T PACK FOR HIM.
THE EVIDENCE OF GOD’S WILL THAT MAN POSSESSES MAKES HIM INEXCUSABLE BUT PROCURES FOR HIM NO
Hence Plato seems to have been forced to think (in his Protagoras) that we sin only out of ignorance. Yet he is constantly pulled back, and is not allowed to blink without being sometimes forced to open his eyes whether he wants to or not.
JUDGMENT OF GOOD AND EVIL IS UNCLEAR, SO LONG AS IT TAKES PLACE ARBITRARILY
This would not be a bad definition: the law of nature is the conception of the conscience which sufficiently distinguishes between just and unjust, and which deprives men of the excuse of. HUMAN KNOWLEDGE COMPLETELY FAILS REGARDING THE FIRST TABLE OF THE LAW; AS FOR THE ELSE, FAILS.
HUMAN KNOWLEDGE WHOLLY FAILS AS REGARDS THE FIRST TABLE OF THE LAW; AS REGARDS THE SECOND, FAILS
But in all our keeping of the law we fail to consider our lust. For the natural man refuses to be led to recognize the diseases of his lusts.
EVERY DAY WE NEED THE HOLY SPIRIT THAT WE MAY NOT MISTAKE OUR WAY
Not satisfied with this, he adds the correction that we ourselves open our eyes to behold the light, but the eyes of the mind, unless the Lord opens them, remain closed. For it is the part of the same God to restore what He gave in the beginning, but which was taken away from us for a time.
THE NATURAL INSTINCT THAT TREATS THE “GOOD” AND THE “ACCEPTABLE” ALIKE HAS NOTHING TO
There is no man to whom eternal blessing is not pleasing, yet no one pursues it except by the urging of the Holy Spirit. The desire for welfare which is natural to men proves no more freedom of the will than the tendency of metals and stones to the perfection of their being proves it in them.
OUR WILL CANNOT LONG FOR THE GOOD WITHOUT THE HOLY SPIRIT
What shall we answer to the Lord, who declares through Moses that every imagination of the human heart is only evil [. We are all sinners by nature; therefore we are kept under the yoke of sin.
ONLY DAMNABLE THINGS COME FORTH FROM MAN’S CORRUPT NATURE
THE WHOLE MAN IS FLESH
He writes that "all the Gentiles walk in the vanity of their minds and are darkened in their understanding. He testifies there that the light of God will arise in the church alone; leaving only shadows and blindness outside the church.
ROMANS, CHAPTER 3, AS WITNESS FOR MAN’S CORRUPTION
You see that he harbors unlawful and evil desires not only in the sensual part of the soul, but even in the mind itself, and for this reason he needs its renewal. Because some life force still remains in the sick body; though the soul plunged into this deadly abyss is not only burdened with vices, but utterly destitute of all good.
GOD’S GRACE SOMETIMES RESTRAINS WHERE IT DOES NOT CLEANSE
Others he restrains simply by merely throwing a bridle over them so that they may not break free, in so far as he foresees that their control will be expedient to preserve all that is. Thus God restrains by his providence the depravity of nature, that it may not break out into action; but he does not cleanse it from within.
UPRIGHTNESS IS GOD’S GIFT; BUT MAN’S NATURE REMAINS CORRUPTED
Hence some are restrained by shame from bursting into many kinds of filth, others by fear of the law—though for the most part they do not hide their impurity. There is a good reason for Isaiah's statement, that "the spirit of the fear of God rests" upon Christ [.
MAN SINS OF NECESSITY, BUT WITHOUT COMPULSION Because of the bondage of sin by which the will is held bound, it cannot
God's goodness is so bound up with his divinity that it is no more necessary for him to be God than it is necessary for him to be good. But if this is true, then it is clearly expressed that man is certainly subject to the necessity of sin.
MEN’S INABILITY TO DO GOOD MANIFESTS ITSELF ABOVE ALL IN THE WORK OF REDEMPTION, WHICH GOD
I also say that it is being created anew; it does not mean that the will now begins to exist, but that it changes from an evil to a good will. It is clear from the context that he is speaking of rebirth, which is the beginning of spiritual life; for he goes on to say that "we are his people and the sheep of his pasture" [.
IT IS NOT A CASE OF THE BELIEVER’S “CO-OPERATION”
I contend that in the words of the prophet which I have quoted, as well as in other passages, two things are clearly implied:. Meanwhile he passes on to the next subject, that of the permanent effect of grace, which, however, he discusses brilliantly elsewhere.
SCRIPTURE IMPUTES TO GOD ALL THAT IS FOR OUR BENEFIT
What other fact could more clearly claim for him and take away from us every trace of good and right in our will. For it always follows that nothing good can arise from our will until it is transformed; and according to her reformation, so far as it is good, it is so of God, not of.
THE PRAYERS IN SCRIPTURE ESPECIALLY SHOW HOW THE BEGINNING, CONTINUATION, AND END OF OUR
It is the work of the Lord that the will understand the love of good, diligently incline toward it, be roused, and moved to pursue it. Then it is the Lord's job that choice, zeal and effort do not falter, but even lead to realization.
GOD’S ACTIVITY DOES NOT PRODUCE A POSSIBILITY THAT WE CAN EXHAUST, BUT AN ACTUALITY TO
Then it is the Lord's doing that the choice, diligence and effort do not waver, but even continue to achievement;. finally, that man continues in these things with steadfastness, and endures to the end. It is obviously the privilege of the elect that they, who have been born again by the Spirit of God, are moved and controlled by his guidance.
PERSEVERANCE IS EXCLUSIVELY GOD’S WORK; IT IS NEITHER A REWARD NOR A COMPLEMENT OF OUR
For it is very certain that where God's grace reigns there is a willingness to obey it. But if they think that man has within himself the power to work in cooperation with God's grace, they are miserably mistaken.
MAN CANNOT ASCRIBE TO HIMSELF EVEN ONE SINGLE GOOD WORK APART FROM GOD’S GRACE
Does not the Spirit of God, wherever abiding, nourish the very disposition to obedience which he first created, and strengthen his steadfastness to persevere. Augustine teaches this clearly, albeit briefly, when he speaks as follows: “Man's good will precedes many of God's gifts, but not all.
AUGUSTINE ALSO RECOGNIZES NO INDEPENDENT ACTIVITY OF THE HUMAN WILL
Therefore help is given to the weakness of the human will, to move it steadfastly and inseparably by the grace of God, and therefore, however great its weakness, it does not let it fail. He then elaborates on how our hearts necessarily respond to God as He works upon them. He is actually saying that the Lord draws people according to their own wills, wills that He Himself created.
AUGUSTINE DOES NOT ELIMINATE MAN’S WILL, BUT MAKES IT WHOLLY DEPENDENT UPON GRACE
Here are also Augustine's words from another place: "Grace alone produces every good work in us." f149. Thus, man is left with such free will, if we want to call it so, as elsewhere.
HOW GOD WORKS IN MEN’S HEARTS F151
- MAN STANDS UNDER THE DEVIL’S POWER, AND INDEED WILLINGLY
- WHAT DOES “HARDNESS” MEAN?
- SCRIPTURAL EXAMPLES OF HOW GOD TREATS THE GODLESS
- SATAN ALSO MUST SERVE GOD
- IN ACTIONS OF THEMSELVES NEITHER GOOD NOR BAD, WE ARE NOT THROWN ON OUR OWN
- IN EACH CASE GOD’S DOMINION STANDS ABOVE OUR FREEDOM
- THE QUESTION OF “FREE WILL” DOES NOT DEPEND ON WHETHER WE CAN ACCOMPLISH WHAT WE WILL, BUT
GOD, SATAN AND MAN ACTIVE IN THE SAME EVENT Very different is God's way of acting in such matters. The power of God's providence extends to this point: not only do things happen as he sees fit, but the wills of men tend to the same end.
REFUTATION OF THE OBJECTIONS COMMONLY PUT FORWARD IN DEFENSE OF FREE WILL
FIRST ARGUMENT: NECESSARY SIN IS NOT SIN;
This, however, is true of the elect angels: although their will cannot turn away from good, yet it does not cease to be a will. Bernard also aptly teaches the same thing: that we are all the more miserable because the necessity is voluntary, a necessity which nevertheless has bound us to it, so that it compels us to be slaves to sin, as we have already mentioned.
SECOND ARGUMENT: REWARD AND PUNISHMENT LOSE THEIR MEANING
You deserve punishment, and when the reward comes, he will crown his own gifts, not your merits." In the same way he teaches elsewhere that grace does not arise from merit, but merit from grace. If you have received all things," says he, "why dost thou brag as if it were not a gift?" [1 Corinthians 4:7 p.] You see that Paul has taken everything from free will to leave no place for merit.
THIRD ARGUMENT: ALL DISTINCTION BETWEEN GOOD AND EVIL WOULD BE OBLITERATED
For how did it not occur to Chrysostom that it is God's election which then differs among men. But we add with him, that it is by God's mercy that not all remain in wickedness.
FOURTH ARGUMENT: ALL EXHORTATION WOULD BE MEANINGLESS
When you look for the reason for the difference – why some persevere steadfastly, and others fail because of instability – nothing comes to mind other than that the Lord upholds the former and strengthens them by His own power, so that they do not perish; while to the latter he does not confer the same power, as they may be examples of inconstancy. As if the best reason for his teaching, which readily presents itself to those who more earnestly seek it, did not rest in the Lord himself, Paul writes: “Neither he that planteth, nor he that watereth.
THE MEANING OF EXHORTATION
So let this be true: all the righteousness of the godly rests on the grace of God. But you will object why they are now. warned of their duty, instead of being left to the guidance of the Spirit.
ARE GOD’S PRECEPTS “THE MEASURE OF OUR STRENGTH”?
Should the law be limited to our powers so as not to be given in vain. To the Thessalonians abounding with him [1 Thessalonians 3:12] he fully admits that the law rings in our ears without effect, unless God inspires in our hearts the whole sum of the law [cf.
THE LAW ITSELF POINTS OUR WAY TO GRACE
Some require that man must first turn to God; others speak simply of obeying the law; others command man to persevere in God's grace once it has been received. For the wicked are not stones or logs when they are taught by the law that their lusts are against God and they become guilty on their own admission;.
THE SEVERAL KINDS OF THE COMMANDMENTS CLEARLY SHOW THAT WITHOUT GRACE WE CAN DO NOTHING
For this reason, let us no longer press this relationship between our strength and the precepts of the law, as if the Lord had applied the rule of justice which He had to give in the law according to the degree of our weakness. "The usefulness of the precepts is great if free will is considered in such a way that God's grace can be honored all the more."
THE WORK OF CONVERSION IS NOT DIVIDED BETWEEN GOD AND MAN
THE BIBLICAL PROMISES SUPPOSE (ACCORDING TO OUR OPPONENTS’ VIEW) THE FREEDOM OF THE WILL
This is how the Lord by these entreaties, "If you are willing," "If you listen," also does not attribute the free to us. THE PROOFS IN SCRIPTURE, THEY CONTRACT FURTHER, LOSE THEIR SIGNIFICANCE IF IT WILL NOT BE FREE.
THE REPROOFS IN SCRIPTURE, THEY FURTHER OBJECT, LOSE THEIR MEANING IF THE WILL BE NOT FREE
Indeed, he gives them tasks to do so that they may not give in to the sluggishness of the flesh. Because if Moses only spoke of the precepts, he brought the most vain confidence into the people.
GOD’S “WAITING” UPON MEN’S ACTION IS HELD TO SUPPOSE FREEDOM OF THE WILL
It is then quite clear that by these words Moses meant the covenant of mercy which he had proclaimed together with the requirements of the law. Therefore this scripture [Romans 10] has no value in establishing the freedom of the human will.
ARE THESE WORKS THEN NOT “OUR” WORKS?
If they admit that the grace of God is necessary for conversion, what quarrel do they have with us. Therefore they must either scoff at the same absurdity in the Lord's Prayer, or admit that good works, in which we have nothing of our own except by God's goodness, are not foolishly called "ours."
THE “WORKS” ARE OURS BY GOD’S GIFT, BUT GOD’S BY HIS PROMPTING
For there is God's purpose to rebuke the evil envy which Cain had conceived against his brother. Some people just as ignorantly twist Paul's statement: "We are God's fellow workers" [.
ECCLESIASTICUS 15:14-17
They have nothing more continually on their lips than Christ's parable of the wayfarer whom thieves throw down half alive in the road [Luke 20:30]. The fathers undoubtedly created this interpretation without considering the true meaning of the Lord's words.
- ONLY THE MEDIATOR HELPS FALLEN MAN
- EVEN THE OLD COVENANT DECLARED THAT THERE IS NO FAITH IN THE GRACIOUS GOD APART FROM THE MEDIATOR
- THE FAITH AND HOPE OF THE OLD COVENANT FED UPON THE PROMISE
- FAITH IN GOD IS FAITH IN CHRIST
I only say that the blessed and happy state of the church has always had its foundation in the person of Christ. THE FAITH AND HOPE OF THE OLD COVENANT BASED ON THE PROMISE BASED ON THE PROMISE.
THE LAW WAS GIVEN, F221 NOT TO RESTRAIN THE FOLK OF THE OLD COVENANT
UNDER ITSELF,
- THE MEDIATOR HELPS ONLY FALLEN MAN
- THE LAW CONTAINS A PROMISE
- THE LAW RENDERS US INEXCUSABLE AND DRIVES US INTO DESPAIR
- THE FULFILLMENT OF THE LAW IS IMPOSSIBLE FOR US We have said that the observance of the law is impossible. Since this is
- THE SEVERITY OF THE LAW TAKES AWAY FROM US ALL SELF-DECEPTION
- THE PUNITIVE FUNCTION OF THE LAW DOES NOT DIMINISH ITS WORTH
- THE PUNITIVE FUNCTION OF THE LAW IN ITS WORK UPON BELIEVERS AND UNBELIEVERS
- THE LAW, AS AUGUSTINE STATES, BY ACCUSING MOVES US TO SEEK GRACE
- THE LAW AS PROTECTION OF THE COMMUNITY FROM UNJUST MEN
- THE LAW A DETERRENT TO THOSE NOT YET REGENERATE What Paul says elsewhere, that “the law was for the Jews a tutor unto
- EVEN THE BELIEVERS HAVE NEED OF THE LAW The third and principal use, which pertains more closely to the proper
- WHOEVER WANTS TO DO AWAY WITH THE LAW ENTIRELY FOR THE FAITHFUL, UNDERSTANDS IT FALSELY
- TO WHAT EXTENT HAS THE LAW BEEN ABROGATED FOR BELIEVERS?
- THE LAW IS ABROGATED TO THE EXTENT THAT IT NO LONGER CONDEMNS US
- THE CEREMONIAL LAW
THE PUNISHMENT FUNCTION OF THE LAW IN ITS EFFECT ON BELIEVERS AND UNBELIEVERS BELIEVERS AND UNBELIEVERS. The wickedness and condemnation of us all are sealed by the testimony of the law.
EXPLANATION OF THE MORAL LAW (THE TEN COMMANDMENTS)
WHAT ARE THE TEN COMMANDMENTS TO US?
But man is so shrouded in the darkness of error that he hardly begins to understand by this law of nature what worship is acceptable to God. Besides, he is so puffed up with pride and ambition, and so blinded by self-love, that he is not yet able to look upon himself and descend, as it were, into himself, f253 that he may abase and abase himself. and confesses his own miserable condition.
THE INEXORABLENESS OF THE LAW
Therefore (because it is necessary both to our laziness and our arrogance), God has provided us with a written law to give us a clearer evidence of what was too obscure in the natural law, to shake our indolence and to strike harder. our mind and memory. it must claim necessity as a defense, because the evil of this necessity is also within us and must be imputed to us. We learn from it that God is our Father; that he is merciful and all holy, and in goodness requires obedience, 3-5).
THE SEVERITY OF THE LAW HAS A POSITIVE GOAL When we have profited by the teaching of the law to this extent, we must
THE SEVERITY OF THE LAW HAS A POSITIVE PURPOSE When we have benefited from the teaching of the law to this extent, we must.
PROMISES AND THREATS
And to exhort us in every way, he promises blessings in this present life as well as eternal blessings to those who obediently keep his commandments. Nevertheless, a long list of current blessings and curses is also enumerated in the law [.
THE SUFFICIENCY OF THE LAW
Wherever God's benevolence or wrath is mentioned, the former implies eternal life, the latter eternal destruction. Keep all these words which I command you, and do them, so that it may go well with you and with your children after you forever, if you do what is good and acceptable in the sight of your God” [.
SINCE THE LAW IS GOD’S LAW, IT MAKES A TOTAL CLAIM UPON US
It must be spiritually understood and interpreted with reference to the purpose of the lawgiver, 6-10). Yet ordinary people, even when they strongly conceal their contempt for the law, combine their eyes, feet, hands, and every part of the body for some.
CHRIST HIMSELF HAS RESTORED THE RIGHT UNDERSTANDING OF THE LAW
It implies that the holiness of the fathers was not far removed from hypocrisy, and draws us away from that one and eternal rule of righteousness. They have thought that Christ added something to the law when he merely restored it to its integrity, liberating and cleansing it when it was darkened by falsehood and defiled by the leaven of the Pharisees [cf.
WAYS TO THE RIGHT MEANING
Thus we must examine in each commandment what it is about; then we must seek its purpose, until we find what the Lawgiver there testifies to please or displease himself. Finally, from the same thing we must deduce an argument on the other side, in this way: if it pleases God, the.
COMMANDMENT AND PROHIBITION
BY ITS STRONG LANGUAGE, THE LAW SHOCKS US INTO GREATER DETESTATION OF SIN
THE TWO TABLES
Or not to defile your body with fornication, if by your blasphemies you profane the most holy name of God. When it is removed, whatever equality, temperance, or self-control men practice among themselves is in the sight of God empty and worthless.
THE DISTRIBUTION OF THE COMMANDMENTS IN THE TWO TABLES
I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. WHO BROUGHT YOU OUT OF THE LAND OF EGYPT, FROM THE HOUSE OF DEVILATION".
THE FIRST COMMANDMENT
2) "Trust" is the assurance of resting in Him, which arises from the recognition of His attributes, when - we ascribe to Him all wisdom, justice, power, truth and goodness - we consider that we are only blessed by fellowship with him. Therefore, let our conscience be clean even from the most secret thoughts of apostasy, if we want our religion approved by the Lord.
SPIRITUAL WORSHIP OF THE INVISIBLE GOD In the previous commandment, he declared himself the one God, apart
You shall not make for yourself a graven image or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above or on the earth below or in the waters that are under the earth; you shall not worship or worship them.” [. THREATENING WORDS IN THE SECOND COMMANDMENT The warning added should be very helpful in shaking ours.
We must see what he means when he threatens that he will “visit the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, even to the third and to the fourth. So also Jeremiah: “Who shows mercy to thousands, but repays the iniquity of the fathers into the bosom of the children after them.”
DOES NOT THE VISITATION OF THE SINS OF THE FATHERS UPON THE CHILDREN RUN COUNTER TO GOD’S JUSTICE?
IS NOT THE VISITATION OF THE SINS OF THE FATHERS ON THE CHILDREN CONTRARY TO THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD. This is not contradicted by the fact that the descendants of the wicked sometimes change; those of believers sometimes degenerate.
INTERPRETATION OF THE COMMANDMENT The purpose of this commandment is: God wills that we hallow the
Once he pursues the iniquity of the father in the son, he learns the kind of judgment that awaits all the wicked for their own transgressions. INTERPRETATION OF THE COMMANDMENT The purpose of this commandment is: God wants us to have the.
THE OATH AS CONFESSION TO GOD In the first place, we must state what an oath is. It is calling God as
Likewise, when he talks about the expansion of his kingdom: “He who wants to bless himself. THE FALSE OATH AS A BALANCE OF GOD'S NAME We see how the Lord wants the worship of His name built into our oaths.
THE FALSE OATH AS A DESECRATION OF GOD’S NAME We see how the Lord wills that worship of his name inheres in our oaths
They shall speak the language of Canaan and swear in the name of the Lord” [. Because when the testimony of men fails, we flee to God as our witness - especially when something hidden in the conscience must be declared.
THE IDLE OATH
For it is not for us that his holy name should not be branded with any form of falsehood. These words indicate that we cannot call upon God to be the witness of our words without asking him to be the avenger of our perjury if we deceive.
DOES NOT THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT FORBID THIS KIND OF OATH?
Rather, he refutes the crafty sophistry of those who see nothing wrong in passively throwing around indirect oaths - as if they were sparing God's holy name, when in fact it is engraved in all his benefits. For such rashness has always been prevalent in the world, although it is a profanation of God's name.
THE EXTRAJUDICIAL OATH IS THEREFORE NECESSARILY ADMISSIBLE
If your reputation is endangered because of his obstinate ill will, you can without offense invoke God's judgment to reveal your innocence at the right time. Boaz was a private person who confirmed his promised marriage to Ruth in the same way [Rut 3:13].
GENERAL INTERPRETATION
Therefore, we must go deeper in our presentation and ponder three conditions in which, it seems to me, the keeping of this commandment consists. Thirdly, he decided to give a day of rest to the servants and those under the authority of others, so that they would have some time from their labor.
THE SABBATH COMMANDMENT AS PROMISE Nevertheless we are taught in many passages that this fore-shadowing of
THE SABBATH COMMANDMENT AS PROMISED, nevertheless we are taught in many passages that this foreshadowing of. We must be completely at rest for God to work in us; we must give our will; we must thank our hearts; we must give up all our fleshly desires.
THE SEVENTH DAY
Vg.] Ezekiel expresses it even more fully, but the sum of his statement comes to this: that the Sabbath is a sign by which Israel may acknowledge that God is their sanctifier [Ezekiel 20:12]. If our sanctification consists in killing our own will, then there is a very close correspondence between the outward sign and the inward reality.
IN CHRIST THE PROMISE OF THE SABBATH COMMANDMENT IS FULFILLED
HOW FAR DOES THE FOURTH COMMANDMENT GO BEYOND EXTERNAL REGULATION?
WHY DO WE CELEBRATE SUNDAY?
SPIRITUAL OBSERVANCE OF THE SACRED DAY However, the ancients did not substitute the Lord’s Day (as we call it) for
Also, we must all together respect the legal order established by the church for hearing the Word, administering the sacraments and public prayers. For we still retain the same importance in the mystery of the days as belongs to the Jews.
THE WIDE SCOPE OF THIS COMMANDMENT
THE DEMAND
THE PROMISE
Therefore this promise is similarly referred to us, inasmuch as the duration of this present life is indeed a proof of God's kindness to us. For it was neither promised to us, nor to the Jews, as if it had a blessing in itself; but because to the pious it is a customary symbol of God's goodness.
THE THREAT
The whole point is here: we must remember that we are promised long life, inasmuch as it is a blessing from God; and that it is a blessing only so far as it is an evidence of God's favor, which by death He much more richly and substantially testifies to His servants, and proves this in reality. Rather, their exaltation depends on God's exaltation and should lead us there.
THE COMMANDMENT
Therefore, submission to them should be a step towards honoring the most high Father. Therefore, if they urge us to transgress the law, we have a perfect right to regard them not as parents, but as strangers who seek to turn us away from obedience to our true Father.
THE REASON FOR THIS COMMANDMENT
GENERAL INTERPRETATION
Man was created in this state not to live a solitary life, but to enjoy a helper united with himself [cf. From this it is clear that any union other than marriage is accursed in his eyes; and that the society of marriage is appointed as a necessary remedy to hinder us.
CELIBACY?
Therefore the Lord provided us sufficiently in this matter when He instituted marriage, the communion of which, begun by His authority, He also sanctified by His blessing. MARRIAGE IN CONNECTION WITH THIS COMMANDMENT We are informed by an open statement that it is not given to every man.
MARRIAGE AS RELATED TO THIS COMMANDMENT We are informed by an open declaration, that it is not given to every man
1 Corinthians 7:34.] While, therefore, by reason he affirms this commandment mentioned above, he says not only that it is better to take a wife than to defile oneself by association with a harlot [cf.
MODESTY AND CHASTITY
For all such weaknesses are like stains that blacken the purity of purity.
GENERAL INTERPRETATION
THIS COMMANDMENT OBLIGATES US TO CARE FOR OTHERS’ GOOD
For he who does not carry out what he owes to others according to the responsibility of his own calling, withholds and appropriates what belongs to another. And let them teach the people not only by education, but also by the example of life.
GENERAL INTERPRETATION
THE GOOD REPUTATION OF OUR NEIGHBOR And yet it is wonderful with what thoughtless unconcern we sin in this
THE MEANING OF THIS COMMANDMENT
INNERMOST RIGHTEOUSNESS!
Here, then, is the second table of the law, which comprehensively teaches us what we owe to men for God's sake, on the contemplation of whom all love depends. Without my help, the wise reader will judge those who, by a perverse division of one commandment, would find two commandments in the prohibition of covetousness. f303 The repetition of the phrase "Do not covet" a second time does not contradict our opinion.
THE SUM OF THE LAW
From this is confirmed that interpretation of the law which seeks and finds in the commandments of the law all the duties of piety and love. For those who follow only dry and bare elements - as if the law taught them only half of God's will - do not at all understand his purpose, as the apostle testifies.
WHY DOES SCRIPTURE SOMETIMES MENTION ONLY THE SECOND TABLE?
FAITH AND LOVE
LOVE OF NEIGHBOR
The reasoning of these Sophists is not to be taken for granted: that the thing that rules is always inferior to its rulership. But he shows that the emotion of love, which from natural depravity generally dwells in ourselves, must now be extended to another, that we may be ready to benefit our neighbor with no less eagerness, diligence, and care than ourselves.
WHO IS OUR NEIGHBOR?
For he does not give the first place to self-love, as certain sophists foolishly imagine, and does not give the second place to love. Instead, commandments that very strictly require us to love our enemies are not often found there.
THE COMMANDMENT TO LOVE OUR ENEMY IS A GENUINE COMMANDMENT
Therefore, Paul must have been a false interpreter of the law, or else the commandment necessarily follows that we must love our own. All this is really hard and difficult for our weakness, even to the smallest detail of the law [cf.
EVERY SIN IS A DEADLY SIN!
CHRIST, ALTHOUGH HE WAS KNOWN TO THE JEWS UNDER THE LAW, WAS AT LENGTH
- THE ADVANTAGE OF THE COMMUNITY OF THE NEW COVENANT
- THE GOSPEL PREACHES THE REVEALED CHRIST Now I take the gospel to be the clear manifestation of the mystery of
- THE PROMISES ARE NOT ABROGATED FOR US Yet we ought to beware of the devilish imagination of Servetus, who —
- THE OPPOSITION BETWEEN LAW AND GOSPEL OUGHT NOT TO BE EXAGGERATED
- JOHN THE BAPTIST
Therefore, the fact that he preached the gospel of the kingdom is rightly attributed to him. Paul therefore rightly contradicts the justice of the law and the gospel.
THE SIMILARITY OF THE OLD AND NEW TESTAMENTS
- THE QUESTION
- CHIEF POINTS OF AGREEMENT
- THE OLD TESTAMENT LOOKS TO THE FUTURE The first point especially refers to the present question; over it our
- EVEN IN THE OLD COVENANT JUSTIFICATION DERIVES ITS VALIDITY FROM GRACE ALONE
- SIMILAR SIGNS OF THE COVENANT
- REFUTATION OF AN OBJECTION BASED ON <430649> JOHN 6:49, 54
- THE FATHERS HAD THE WORD; WITH IT THEY ALSO HAD ETERNAL LIFE,
- IN THE OLD COVENANT, GOD GAVE HIS PEOPLE FELLOWSHIP WITH HIMSELF AND THUS ETERNAL LIFE
- EVEN IN THE OLD COVENANT, GOD’S GOODNESS WAS STRONGER THAN DEATH
Secondly, the covenant by which they were bound to the Lord was not supported by their own merits, but solely by the grace of the God who called them. Argument regarding the hope of eternal life, which shows that the Old Testament patriarchs after fulfillment of the.